BILL TO SPARE FETUSES FROM DRUGS STALLED

Kunicki's concern about effect on abortion keeps measure out of Senate

By Sam Martino and Lisa Sink of the Journal Sentinel

Waukesha A day after the Waukesha County cocaine mother was back in the
news, officials said the brakes have been put to state legislation aimed at
protecting fetuses of drugaddicted mothers.

Also Wednesday, the woman who once again has found herself the center of
statewide attention said in an interview that she quit using cocaine
between two and fourth months ago but is almost five months pregnant.

The woman was forced into custody two years ago to protect her fetus from
her drug abuse. But the state Supreme Court later ruled it was illegal
because the law did not consider a fetus to be a child eligible for
protection.

A bill to provide that designation was passed in the Assembly last month on
a 6927 vote.

But it was learned Wednesday that state Rep. Walter Kunicki (DMilwaukee)
used a procedural tactic to keep the measure from being passed on to the
Senate for action.

Kunicki, who voted in favor of the bill, has asked for reconsideration of
it when the Assembly returns in midJanuary.

A spokesman for Kunicki said the bill needed work because it would legally
identify a fetus as a human being from fertilization to birth a
designation that could have an affect on future abortion legislation.

"Rather than speed this bill through like a freight train, it was decided
to slow it down," said Dave de Felice, a spokesman for Kunicki.

The woman is identified by the Journal Sentinel as Angela to protect the
identity of her 2yearold son, for whom she is appealing the termination
of her parental rights.

She was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia
after she was arrested for having crack cocaine pipes hidden in one of her
shoes, according to the criminal complaint. Police had received a tip that
she was trying to buy drugs, the complaint says.

In an interview Wednesday, Angela insisted that she is now clean and
that someone tried to frame her by hiding the pipes in her shoe Friday
night.

"Two months ago I decided to quit," said the woman, who is noticeably
pregnant. "I've been clean two months. No, three or four.

"I'm not using anymore."

"The baby keeps moving," Angela said, rubbing her hands on her abdomen and
lifting her Tshirt to reveal her belly. "I'm not going to lose my baby
again. That's why I quit."

Earlier this year, Angela told a reporter she had a miscarriage in April
about a month after she said she had stopped using cocaine.

She said Wednesday that she is not sure of the identity of the father in
her present pregnancy. It could be her current boyfriend or the former
boyfriend who fathered the child who was the subject of the Supreme Court
case, she said.

Angela said she awaits the outcome of her appeal to regain custody of the
2yearold boy, who remains with foster parents who want to adopt him.

There is little the county can do to stop her or any other pregnant women
from abusing drugs, said William Domina, Waukesha County assistant
corporation counsel William Domina, who helped detain the woman in 1995 to
protect her fetus.

"It's open season on these children," he said.

Domina said that he expected the Senate to debate a more narrow piece of
legislation that would allow intervention only in the third trimester of
pregnancy.

"I think we need to keep a less invasive process" that will be upheld by
courts as constitutional, Domina said.

Civil rights activists have said that it would violate a woman's privacy
rights to detain her against her will to protect a fetus that the woman has
legal right to abort at any time.

Opponents of the bill passed by the Assembly also argue that it could force
more women to have abortions rather than risk being jailed or hospitalized
to halt their drug use.

Two state lawmakers who introduced the legislation said Wednesday that they
want action early next year on the measure.

"If our bill is passed, it would require her to get counseling and
treatment," state Sen. Joanne Huelsman (RWaukesha) said of Angela.

Huelsman and state Rep. Bonnie Ladwig (RCaledonia) said they are upset
that the legislation is stalled.

"I hope that because of this latest incident, it will open up the eyes of
some legislators that this is the type of thing we are trying to address,"
Ladwig said.

They said a hearing still could have been held by now in the Senate on a
companion measure.

"If they had a hearing on the Senate bill, it would speed the matter up,"
Ladwig said.

State Sen. Lynn Adelman (DTown of Waterford), who is chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, has not held a hearing. He did not return a
reporter's telephone call Wednesday.

State Sen. Fred Risser (DMadison) is expected to succeed Adelman as
chairman when Adelman resigns his seat in the Legislature before the end of
the year to become a federal judge.

Risser said Wednesday that he will review the bill when he takes over.